It is known to latch a vehicle hood in the closed position by a latch mechanism which is releasable to permit the hood to be opened. For example, some commercially available tractors made by John Deere have a hood latch assembly which releasably latches to a striker member. This known latch assembly has a striker plate and a latch plate. The striker plate is pivotal to a locked position securing the latch assembly to the striker member and to an unlocked position wherein the latch assembly can be coupled to and uncoupled from the striker member. The latch plate is pivotal to a latched position holding the striker plate in its locked position and to an unlatched position wherein the striker plate can be pivoted into and out of its locked position. On vehicles, such as tractors, which have large hoods, dirt and debris can become lodged in the latch mechanism and cause the latch mechanism to require a large force to unlatch. This force can exceed what can easily be applied by an operator using a conventional release handle.
One way to solve this problem would be to modify the latch plate to include a longer lever arm, such as a lever arm twice the length of the latch's original lever arm. This would reduce the force required to open the hood latch. However, such a longer lever arm would increase the drag on the latch when trying to close the hood. This extra drag on the latch can prevent the latch from latching when attempting to close the hood. It would be desirable to provide a hood latch mechanism which can be easily released with a small release force, without interfering with its latching function.